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Voddie Baucham - The Kind of Men God Uses in Revival · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: All right, if you have your Bibles with you, open
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  Speaker 1: them to Acts chapter 17. Acts chapter 17. My final assignment,
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  Speaker 1: my final assignment is to address the issue of the
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  Speaker 1: man God uses in revival.
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  Speaker 2: The man God uses in revival.
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  Speaker 1: And as I thought about this, it was really difficult
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  Speaker 1: to sort of pin it down because there are many
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  Speaker 1: different types of men and women that God has used
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  Speaker 1: in revivals through the years.
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  Speaker 2: And over the history of the church.
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  Speaker 1: But as I thought about it biblically, there's... one name
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  Speaker 1: that just kept coming up over and over again, and
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  Speaker 1: that's the Apostle Paul, right? I mean, wherever he went,
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  Speaker 1: there was either a revival or a riot. And often both, right?
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  Speaker 1: You just can't think about this issue of revival and
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  Speaker 1: reformation without thinking about the life and the ministry.
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  Speaker 2: And the work of the Apostle Paul.
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  Speaker 1: And here in Acts chapter 17, we really get a
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  Speaker 1: flavor for it. Much of what I would say about
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  Speaker 1: the men God uses in revival would correspond with what
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  Speaker 1: I talked about last night as it relates to preaching
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  Speaker 1: and revival and the preachers. Those four things, right? Serious, courageous, evangelistic,
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  Speaker 1: and faithful. So those are absolutely true as far as
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  Speaker 1: those characteristics go. But now what I want to look
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  Speaker 1: at is just a couple of the marks that we
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  Speaker 1: see in the life. Really two characteristics and then two
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  Speaker 1: implications of that. Acts chapter 17. Again, we don't have
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  Speaker 1: time to read and address everything here, but I think
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  Speaker 1: you'll see the patterns. The first one is that the
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  Speaker 1: men God uses in revival tend to be those men
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  Speaker 1: who are ready to go anywhere at any time to
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  Speaker 1: serve the Lord. They're ready to go anywhere at any
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  Speaker 1: time to serve the Lord. Look at verse one. Now,
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  Speaker 1: when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, They came
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  Speaker 1: to Thessalonica. Now go to verse 10. The brothers immediately
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  Speaker 1: sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. Now
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  Speaker 1: go to verse 16. Now while Paul was waiting for
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  Speaker 1: them at Athens. Now we could go on and on
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  Speaker 1: and on tracing the missionary journeys of Paul. And what
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  Speaker 1: we would see with him and with his companions over
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  Speaker 1: and over again is that they were willing to go anywhere,
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  Speaker 1: anytime to serve the Lord. Wherever there was an open door,
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  Speaker 1: wherever there was an opportunity, they were willing to go. Now,
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  Speaker 1: let me hasten to say, I'm not arguing that this
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  Speaker 1: has to be international in its scope. although at times
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  Speaker 1: it is. But this principle still holds, even when you
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  Speaker 1: start talking about it from a local perspective. For example, yes,
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  Speaker 1: you have individuals historically, you have Calvin who was willing
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  Speaker 1: to go to Geneva. You do, you have that. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: you have George Whitefield all up and down the Eastern seaboard.
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  Speaker 1: And I am talking about that, and I do mean that.
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  Speaker 1: But that same character, that same willingness to go anywhere
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  Speaker 1: and do anything when the Lord opens up an opportunity
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  Speaker 1: was evident as my family and I were in the van,
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  Speaker 1: stopping to get some food. We were about to, I think,
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  Speaker 1: drive down here from Jacksonville. And we go through the drive-thru,
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  Speaker 1: and as often happens with us when we go through
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  Speaker 1: the drive-thru, the nine of us, our stuff's not ready
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  Speaker 1: when we get to the second window, right? So you
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  Speaker 1: know those lines? You may have wondered, right? They'll have
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  Speaker 1: like a line and it says one and a line
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  Speaker 1: and it says two. And you go through the drive-thru
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  Speaker 1: and you're like, what are those for?
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  Speaker 2: Well, they're for us.
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  Speaker 1: And so we make our order and we get up
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  Speaker 1: to the window and they're like, your stuff's not ready yet.
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  Speaker 1: Can you go up to number one or can you
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  Speaker 1: go up to number two? And so we drive up
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  Speaker 1: to number one and look in the window and And
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  Speaker 1: there's a guy there. I'm assuming it was a pastor.
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  Speaker 1: It was an older gentleman. Had to be maybe in
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  Speaker 1: his 50s. And there were three college-age young men with
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  Speaker 1: him sitting down at the table. They had their Bibles open,
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  Speaker 1: and they had their notebooks open, and they were sitting there,
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  Speaker 1: and they were doing Bible study. He's outside of the
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  Speaker 1: office taking advantage of an opportunity. I don't know what
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  Speaker 1: the story was, but what I do know is that
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  Speaker 1: Here's a guy who, for whatever reason, has been presented
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  Speaker 1: with an opportunity to invest his life and the ministry
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  Speaker 1: of the word. And these three college age young men,
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  Speaker 1: and at least on that day, that was precisely what
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  Speaker 1: he was doing.
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  Speaker 2: That's what I mean.
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  Speaker 1: That's the same attitude that says, if you send me
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  Speaker 1: to Apollonia, or if you send me to Thessalonica, or
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  Speaker 1: if you send me to Berea, or if you send
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  Speaker 1: me to Athens, if that's where the opportunity is, if
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  Speaker 1: there's a call to Macedonia, if that's where the.
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  Speaker 2: Opportunity is, yes and amen, I will go. I'll go.
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  Speaker 1: Because I want to serve, and I want to be
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  Speaker 1: where the Lord is at work.
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  Speaker 2: This is less common than you think.
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  Speaker 1: I wrote in Expository Apologetics about my own experience back
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  Speaker 1: in 2012 when our oldest son was done with school
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  Speaker 1: and doing life. He traveled with me for the Last
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  Speaker 1: four and a half years of his, we own school.
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  Speaker 1: For the last four and a half years of his education,
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  Speaker 1: he traveled with me full time. So everywhere that I went,
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  Speaker 1: Trey was with me. And now all of a sudden
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  Speaker 1: Trey was done with school and he wasn't traveling with
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  Speaker 1: me anymore. And I missed him. And Trey started, you know,
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  Speaker 1: getting into this and that. And he got into martial
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  Speaker 1: arts and started doing this Brazilian jiu-jitsu stuff. Had no
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  Speaker 1: idea what it was, but my boy was doing it
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  Speaker 1: and we could do it together. And I went and
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  Speaker 1: that's how I started doing Brazilian jiu-jitsu. And I was
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  Speaker 1: like a duck who found water, right? But an amazing
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  Speaker 1: thing happened as I continued to train and eventually to compete.
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  Speaker 2: Through my academy.
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  Speaker 1: I developed relationships with people outside of the church. And
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  Speaker 1: if you're in pastoral ministry, you know exactly what I'm
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  Speaker 1: getting ready to say.
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  Speaker 2: If you're not, you may be shocked by this.
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  Speaker 1: But men who are in pastoral ministry who've been doing
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  Speaker 1: it for around five years, they don't have real friends
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  Speaker 1: outside of church. They may have people that they know,
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  Speaker 1: but real friendships, especially not with lost people, They may
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  Speaker 1: run into lost people at the store. They may run
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  Speaker 1: into lost people, you know, going door to door witnessing.
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  Speaker 1: But real friendships with lost people, if you've been in
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  Speaker 1: pastoral ministry for five years, your lost friends are not
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  Speaker 1: your friends anymore. And oftentimes we never rub shoulders with
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  Speaker 1: people who don't go to church, who don't believe what
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  Speaker 1: we believe. And all of a sudden I'm thrust into
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  Speaker 1: this world where I had those kind of relationships. And
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  Speaker 1: it was incredibly meaningful. It changed the way that I
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  Speaker 1: thought about my ministry. It changed the way that I
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  Speaker 1: thought about preaching. All of a sudden, I'm working through
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  Speaker 1: a text, and I'm not just thinking, you know, earlier on, Dr.
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  Speaker 1: Nellis and Dr. Rascal both made reference to the fact of,
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  Speaker 1: you know, putting these notes in the margins, either in
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  Speaker 1: a lecture or in a sermon, because of the objections
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  Speaker 1: that were going to come. Well, you know, you get
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  Speaker 1: that when you're in a classroom and there are people
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  Speaker 1: who are objecting. But oftentimes, when all you do is
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  Speaker 1: preach at church to the same people all over and
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  Speaker 1: over again. All the objections that you think about when
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  Speaker 1: you're preparing a sermon are the ones coming from those
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  Speaker 1: same people. But when you get outside of that box
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  Speaker 1: and put yourself out there in the world among people
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  Speaker 1: who don't automatically agree with what you're going to be
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  Speaker 1: saying and automatically believe what it is that you believe,
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  Speaker 1: it changes the way you think about a text. And
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  Speaker 1: you start going, oh, I know if Jim heard me
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  Speaker 1: say this, this would be his objection. And we also
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  Speaker 1: have opportunities for influence and for impact beyond the walls.
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  Speaker 2: A couple of things I'll commend to you.
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  Speaker 1: Number one, if you can get engaged in hobbies or
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  Speaker 1: things of that nature that get you involved with people,
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  Speaker 1: that's great.
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  Speaker 2: Here's another one.
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  Speaker 1: Is there a local Christian school that would have you
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  Speaker 1: come in and speak at their chapels?
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  Speaker 2: Do that. Do that. Would they have you come in
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  Speaker 2: and maybe teach a Bible class? Do that. Do that.
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  Speaker 1: By the way, maybe not even at your local Christian school,
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  Speaker 1: there may be a community college in your area that
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  Speaker 1: would have you come in and teach a class. Do
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  Speaker 1: you have another expertise where you could do that?
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  Speaker 2: Do that. Do that. Do that.
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  Speaker 1: Get on a campus somewhere where you can engage with
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  Speaker 1: young men and young women for their benefit and for yours.
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  Speaker 1: Are there ways that you can get involved with civic organizations?
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  Speaker 2: Do that. Do that. Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because the Lord may just open up an opportunity for
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  Speaker 1: And he may just use it. The men that God
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  Speaker 1: uses in revival are men who are ready and willing
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  Speaker 1: to go anywhere, anytime when the Lord opens up an opportunity.
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  Speaker 1: And again, this doesn't mean that you have to be
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  Speaker 1: the one to go to every place.
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  Speaker 2: That's not what I'm saying.
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  Speaker 1: It doesn't mean that you have to be the one
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  Speaker 1: jet setting, that you have to be the one doing
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  Speaker 1: international this, that, or the other. Listen, Paul was the
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  Speaker 1: apostle to the Gentiles. Amen? Peter's travel itinerary doesn't look
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  Speaker 1: like Paul's. But his ministry was no less significant.
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  Speaker 2: You follow? Most men throughout history.
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  Speaker 1: Haven't had a travel itinerary that looked like the Apostle Paul.
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  Speaker 2: But that's not what we're all called to.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, who has the time to go spend six
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  Speaker 1: months here and then 18 months there? Again, I'm not
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  Speaker 1: saying that this is exactly what it has to look like.
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  Speaker 1: But what it has to look like is, what are
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  Speaker 1: your gifts, your talents, your abilities What are the desires
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  Speaker 1: that God has put on your heart? And what are
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  Speaker 1: the opportunities that arise that are suitable? And when those
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  Speaker 1: things intersect, your gifts, your talents, your abilities, your desires,
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  Speaker 1: and an opportunity, then be willing to go. Be willing.
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  Speaker 2: Be willing.
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  Speaker 1: So that God, perchance, may use you. And then when
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  Speaker 1: you go, what are you going to do? Here's the
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  Speaker 1: second characteristic. Remember, two characteristics and then two implications. Number one,
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  Speaker 1: this readiness and willingness to go whenever the Lord provides
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  Speaker 1: an opportunity. And secondly, a commitment to bring the gospel
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  Speaker 1: to bear. in appropriate ways in each one of those opportunities.
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  Speaker 1: Look at the rest of verse one. They passed through
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  Speaker 1: and Phippolis and Apollonia. They came to Thessalonica and there
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  Speaker 1: was a synagogue of the Jews. Now, Paul's an apostle
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  Speaker 1: to the.
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  Speaker 2: Gentiles, right?
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  Speaker 1: Right?
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  Speaker 2: So that means that, you know, there's a synagogue of
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  Speaker 2: the Jews. He doesn't go there.
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  Speaker 1: He just says, hey, I got a guy, Peter, I'll
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  Speaker 1: give you his number. But can you point me in
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  Speaker 1: the direction of the Gentiles? No.
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  Speaker 2: Verse 2. Verse 2. And Paul went in as was
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  Speaker 2: his custom.
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  Speaker 1: And on three Sabbath days, he reasoned with them from
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  Speaker 1: the scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for
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  Speaker 1: the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead
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  Speaker 1: and saying, this Jesus whom I proclaim to you is
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  Speaker 1: the Christ. Now, go down to verse 10. The brothers
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  Speaker 1: immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea.
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  Speaker 1: And when they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue.
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  Speaker 1: Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica.
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  Speaker 1: They received the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures
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  Speaker 1: daily to see if these things were so.
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  Speaker 2: Verse 17. I'll go to 16 first.
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  Speaker 1: Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his
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  Speaker 1: spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the
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  Speaker 1: city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the
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  Speaker 1: synagogues with the Jews and the devout persons, there's the
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  Speaker 1: same thing, and in the marketplace every day with those
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  Speaker 1: who happened to be there.
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  Speaker 2: You see the pattern?
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  Speaker 1: The pattern is, I'll go wherever the Lord opens the
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  Speaker 1: door But when the Lord opens the door, what I'm
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  Speaker 1: going to do is I'm going to preach Christ. Wherever
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  Speaker 1: that door opens up. Because that's all I got. I'm
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  Speaker 1: going to look for opportunities. I'm going to look for
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  Speaker 1: open doors. And when I go through those open doors,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to preach Christ. When he's preaching there in Athens,
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  Speaker 1: it opens up an opportunity for him to go to
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  Speaker 1: the Areopagus and to preach there.
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  Speaker 2: And he does. He preaches Christ.
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  Speaker 1: But I want you to notice the difference. And this
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  Speaker 1: is important. He knows his audience. He recognizes his audience.
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  Speaker 1: What happens when he's at Thessalonica?
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  Speaker 2: Look at it.
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  Speaker 1: And on three Sabbath days, he reasoned with them from
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  Speaker 1: the scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for
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  Speaker 1: the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead
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  Speaker 1: and saying, this Jesus whom I proclaim to you is
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  Speaker 1: the Christ. So there's exposition there. He's in the scriptures
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  Speaker 1: and there's exposition. Then he goes to Berea. He's there
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  Speaker 1: in Berea. These Jews are more noble than those in Thessalonica.
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  Speaker 1: They received the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures
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  Speaker 1: daily to see if these things were so. So he's
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  Speaker 1: doing the same thing there that he did in Thessalonica.
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  Speaker 1: But when he comes to the Areopagus, things are different.
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  Speaker 1: Look at verse 22. Look at verse 22. So Paul,
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  Speaker 1: standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said, open your
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  Speaker 1: scroll to, no, there are no scrolls. They don't have
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  Speaker 1: the scriptures there. He said, men of Athens, I perceive
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  Speaker 1: that in every way you are very religious. For as
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  Speaker 1: I passed along and observed the objects of your worship,
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  Speaker 1: I found also an altar with this inscription, to an
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  Speaker 1: unknown God. what therefore you worship as unknown, this I
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  Speaker 1: proclaim to you, that God who made the world and
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  Speaker 1: everything in it, being the Lord of heaven and earth,
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  Speaker 1: does not live in temples made by man, nor is
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  Speaker 1: he served by human hands as though he needed anything,
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  Speaker 1: since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath
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  Speaker 1: and everything.
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  Speaker 2: And he made from one man every nation of mankind.
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  Speaker 1: To live on all the face of the earth, having
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  Speaker 1: determined allotted periods and boundaries of their dwelling place, that
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  Speaker 1: they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward
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  Speaker 1: him and find him. Yet he is actually not far
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  Speaker 1: from each one of us. In him we live and
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  Speaker 1: move and have our being, even as some of your
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  Speaker 1: own poets have said, for we are indeed his offspring.
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  Speaker 1: Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that
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  Speaker 1: the divine being is like gold or silver or stone,
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  Speaker 1: an image formed by the art and imagination of man.
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  Speaker 1: The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands
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  Speaker 1: all people everywhere to repent because he has fixed a
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  Speaker 1: day on which he will judge the world in righteousness
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  Speaker 1: by a man whom he has appointed. And for this
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  Speaker 1: He has given assurance to all by raising him from
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  Speaker 1: the dead. Here's what's interesting. Among the Jews in the synagogue,
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  Speaker 1: he opens the scroll and he does an exposition. And
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  Speaker 1: he's demonstrating to them from their text the message about
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  Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus Christ. This text, the law and the prophets,
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  Speaker 1: this text is about Christ.
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  Speaker 2: It's about Christ.
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  Speaker 1: And then when he comes to the Areopagus, what does
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  Speaker 1: he do? Well, they don't have a scroll, but they
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  Speaker 1: do have a text that they're believing.
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  Speaker 2: They have the text of God's revelations.
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  Speaker 1: And what he does is he preaches a very biblical
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  Speaker 1: sermon in this sense. He gives the biblical grand narrative, creation, fall, redemption, consummation.
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  Speaker 1: He gives them the biblical grand narrative all the way
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  Speaker 1: down to the resurrection. He points his grand narrative out
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  Speaker 1: at their particular sins. You ought to know better. These
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  Speaker 1: things ought not to be so. This is not who
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  Speaker 1: God is. This is who God is. You're wrong, I'm right.
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  Speaker 1: And God has demonstrated that I'm right because of the resurrection.
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  Speaker 1: So here's what he doesn't do. He doesn't get his
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  Speaker 1: opportunity to, To go into, I mean, this is like
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  Speaker 1: a golden opportunity. Think about the most viewed podcast, the
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  Speaker 1: most viewed, you know, this is Joe Rogan, okay? He
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  Speaker 1: has the opportunity to go on Joe Rogan. And what
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  Speaker 1: many people would do if they had the opportunity to
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  Speaker 1: go on Joe Rogan is whatever was necessary to get
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  Speaker 1: invited back.
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  Speaker 2: Amen?
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  Speaker 1: That's not what he does. That's not what he does.
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  Speaker 1: He goes to this place and he immediately gets to
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  Speaker 1: the heart of the problem. The sin of their idolatry.
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  Speaker 1: And he immediately gets to to the heart of the gospel. Sin, redemption,
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  Speaker 1: even down to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ,
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  Speaker 1: which philosophically, for many of the people hearing him, was
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  Speaker 1: immediately disqualifying in their minds.
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  Speaker 2: They're done.
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  Speaker 1: They're out. Not only have you offended my sensibilities, but
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  Speaker 1: now you're talking about ridiculous stuff like resurrection.
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  Speaker 2: We're done. We're out.
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  Speaker 1: He did not do what was necessary to get invited back.
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  Speaker 1: He did what was necessary to make the gospel clear.
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  Speaker 1: He took advantage of the opportunity that he had. He
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  Speaker 1: took his commitment to the message of the gospel and
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  Speaker 1: he tailored it to the opportunity that he had. These
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  Speaker 1: are the two things. A willingness to go wherever the
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  Speaker 1: Lord provides an opportunity. And when we get there a
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  Speaker 1: commitment to the clear message of the gospel. These two
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  Speaker 1: things are essential because without them, we don't see revival.
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  Speaker 2: Amen?
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  Speaker 1: If we don't have men who are willing to go
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  Speaker 1: and stand where there are opportunities, there will be no revival.
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  Speaker 1: And if we have men who go where there are opportunities,
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: but don't stand with the truth of the gospel and
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: call men to repentance and faith and preach Christ and
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: him crucified and risen from the dead, then we don't
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: have revival. We have to have both of those things. Well,
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: those are the two characteristics. What about the two outcomes?
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: Look at verse four. And some of them were persuaded
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: of the devout Greeks and not a few of the
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: leading women. By the way, don't miss this. Paul's the
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: apostle to the Gentiles, right? What happens here is he
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: goes in to the synagogue, and he goes into the
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: synagogue regularly, he says, on three Sabbath days, he reasoned
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: with them from the scriptures. On three Sabbath days, explaining
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: and proving that it was necessary for Christ to suffer
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: and to rise from the dead, there's the resurrection again,
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: and saying, this Jesus whom I proclaim to you.
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: Is the Christ.
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: Three Sabbath days, he's bringing this incredibly offensive message in
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: the synagogue.
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: It's offensive to Jews and to Greeks. Amen? It's an offense.
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: It's a stumbling block.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: It just, this whole thing about crucifixion and resurrection, it's
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: a problem. And the result is, some of them were
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, some of the Jews,
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: but who's his audience? As did a great many of
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: the devout Greeks. They got in on this too. So
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: God uses his willingness to take this opportunity in the
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: synagogue to further the ministry to which he is called
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: with the Gentiles. And not a few of the leading women.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: Stick that one in your hat for a minute. Go
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: down to verse 12. Now he's in Berea. He does
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: the same thing with the Bereans and they're examining the
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: scriptures to see if these things are so. Look at
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: verse 12. Many of them therefore believed with not a
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: few Greek women of high standing as well as men.
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: Interesting.
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: Now we've got not just Greeks and also women, but
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: we've got Greek women of high standing. Maybe even most
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: likely community leaders. So once again, he goes into the
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: Jewish synagogue. He's preaching in the Jewish synagogue. probably on
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: multiple occasions like he did before, people there believe, and
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: also there are Greeks. The broader population is hearing this message,
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: and women of high standing as well. Now, go with
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: me and look at verse 34, or.
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: Look at verse 32.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: Now, when they heard the resurrection of the dead, some mocked.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: But others said, remember I said this whole thing about
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: the resurrection? If he had been advised by his PR person,
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: and the PR person came and said, listen, you're about
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: to go on Joe Rogan. I know that in these
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: other places, you've been talking about resurrection. And you know
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: how controversial it's been, right? Well, here at the Areopagus podcast,
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: that would be even more controversial and they will.
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: Mock you for it.
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: So if you really want to have some clout with
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: these people, maybe you leave that part off.
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: And I guarantee you, he knows this. And so what
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: does he end with?
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: The resurrection.
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: The resurrection.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: And he ended there because that's kind of what got
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: them started talking about him in the first place. Go
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: back to verse 18. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, what does
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: this babbler wish to say? By the way, that's an insult.
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: This babbler, this idle babbler was to say. Others said,
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: he seems to be a preacher of foreign deities because
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: he was speaking of Jesus and the resurrection. So even there,
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: he's talking about the resurrection. And they call him an
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: idle babbler because he's talking about the resurrection. Then he
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: goes and he talks about the resurrection again. Now verse 32.
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: When they heard the resurrection of the dead, some mocked,
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: but others said, we will hear you again about this.
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: So Paul went out from their midst, but some men
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius, there
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: I forgot Dionysius, and a woman named Damaris, or Damaris,
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: and others with them. In all three instances, you had
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: people who believed. And in all three instances among these
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: people who believed, you had Greeks and women. It's interesting
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: that the women are mentioned three times here. And not
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: just women, but women of high position in their community
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: and in their society. There's discussion and debate as to
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: why these women are mentioned here and what the significance
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: of that is. Some, of course, point to the fact
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: that this is Luke who is writing and Luke's gospel
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: mentions women more than all of the other gospels. And
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: here you have Luke and he's mentioning the women here
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: as well. But he doesn't just mention the women. He
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: mentions women in high positions. Women of significance in the community.
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: Why?
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: Because I think this goes back to that first point.
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: He's a man who's committed to going wherever the Lord
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: opens a door and gives an opportunity. And as he
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: goes through these doors and takes advantage of these opportunities...
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: The Lord uses those opportunities to open up other opportunities.
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: Who is he? He's the apostle to the Gentiles.
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: He's going to go to the synagogue because that's what
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: he does, but he's there to bring the gospel to
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: the Gentiles. And in going to the synagogue, he runs
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: into individuals who are of significant position and status in
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: the community who can open up other doors so that
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: he can preach to others as well. And so his
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: ministry is bearing fruit. His ministry is opening doors. He
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: goes through doors and they open up other doors. We
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: see this. This is how the Lord works. We don't
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: just wake up one day and say, okay, revival. No,
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: this is how the Lord works. He opens up doors
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: of opportunity. And men who are committed to taking advantage
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: of those opportunities walk through those doors and walk through
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: with a commitment to the message of the gospel and
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: to applying that message of the gospel to every situation
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: and every setting without compromise. And when they do it,
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: there's fruit. There's fruit. Remember I said there were two?
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: Not only is there fruit. Look at verse five. But
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: the Jews were jealous.
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: Jealous.
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: And taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: the crowd. And when they could not find them, they
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting,
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: these men who have turned the world upside down have
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: come here also.
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: I love it. Oh, would that be said of us?
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: Who's that?
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: Man, that's some of those men who've turned the world
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: upside down and now they're here. Verse seven, and Jason
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: has received them and they are all acting against the
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: decree of Caesar saying that there is another king, Jesus.
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: Jesus.
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: Caesar is king. Caesar is Lord. That's the decree under
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: Roman rule in the Roman Empire. Caesar is king. Caesar
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: is Lord. How did the Christians respond? Jesus is Lord.
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: Jesus is king. Verse eight. And the people and the
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. And
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: when they had taken money as security from Jason and
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: the rest, they let them go. Look at verse 13.
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: Now we've moved to Berea. Why? Verse 10, the brothers
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: immediately sent Paul and Silas by night to Berea. By
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: the way, the opportunities that the Lord is opening up
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: here It's from them trying to run away from the
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: trouble that they start. Just saying. I don't recommend that part, amen?
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: But if he uses it. Verse 13. But when the
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too,
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: agitating and stirring up the crowds. And then, of course,
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: verse 32 we've already looked at. Now, when they heard
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. He proclaimed, and
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: he consistently proclaimed the gospel. He consistently called people to
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: repentance and faith. He consistently preached Christ and him crucified
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: and resurrected from the dead.
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: And some believed. Some mocked.
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: Some gathered mobs to try to assault them. Some ran
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: them out of town. I think sometimes we get this
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: romanticized view of revival. And here's what we think. We think, Lord,
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: please send revival, because if the Lord sends revival.
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: Then there's gonna be a passionate outpouring of the Spirit
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: of God. And when there's this passionate outpouring of the
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: Spirit of God, people are gonna come to faith in
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus Christ. When people come to faith in
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus Christ, the presence of God in our
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: midst will be so powerful that people will be called
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: to holiness and righteousness and they will deepen their faith
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: and they will deepen their obedience. And as a result
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: of this, people will come from miles around to be
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: part of the revival that's going on. And then the
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: newspapers will write articles about how wonderful it is that
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: revival has come to our town. And you see, that's
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: what we think. But that's not the case. When revival comes,
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: opposition comes with it. Why? Because our adversary, the devil,
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: still goes around like a roaring lion seeking whom he
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: may devour. Why?
• 38:32
  Speaker 2: Because our enemy still hates the gospel. Why? Because the
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: world still loves.
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: Its sin and hates to be reminded of its sin. Why?
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: Because they hated Jesus. They hated him so much that
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: they put him to death. And we are preaching Christ
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: and him crucified. And if they hated Jesus so much
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: that they put him to death, What do you think
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: is going to happen if we preach Christ and the
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: preaching of Christ spreads abroad and it gets louder and
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: louder and more and more prominent in the midst of
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: a world that hates the Christ whom we preach? They
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: will hate us all the more. They will hate us
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: all the more. And not just the world. The lukewarm
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: among us. The lukewarm among us. Oh, you a holy
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: roller now? No. Oh, are you going to become a
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: monk now? Are you going to become a nun now?
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: Are you going to become a priest now? Oh, are
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: you better than all the rest of us now? Oh,
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: are we just supposed to forget who you used to be,
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: what you.
• 40:15
  Speaker 2: Used to do?
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: That opposition is absolutely a characteristic and a mark of
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: those men, those women whom God uses in revival. And
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: it makes all the sins in the world. So we
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: put it together. We have men who are ready and
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: willing to go wherever the Lord opens up a door
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: of opportunity.
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: Even at great cost. Here am I, Lord, send me.
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: And not only are they willing to go, but when
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: they go, when they get there, when they show up,
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: they show up ready to preach Christ and him crucified,
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: to call men to repentance and faith, to preach this
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: supernatural gospel of ours, including the fact that Christ was
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: raised from the dead for our justification. They show up
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: with that, regardless of where they are, regardless of how
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: many people sit there and go, man, I hope he
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: doesn't do all that stuff. They do that. They do
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: that because nothing matters more to them. And there's nothing
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: that they believe in more than they believe in that.
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: They don't believe that influence peddling will have the impact
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: that the gospel can. They don't believe it. And as
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: a result, there's fruit. Two kinds of fruit. One kind
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: is the fruit of people's lives being impacted by their
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: obedience and their ministry. People being redeemed. People being called
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: out of darkness and into marvelous light. People turning from
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: their sin and turning to Christ. Lives being turned upside down. Amen, hallelujah,
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: praise the Lord. The other fruit, opposition. People who are
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: warring against God and warring against the gospel will always
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: war against you when you're standing for the God and
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: the gospel against which they fight. But we know how
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: the story ends.
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: Amen? The mobs didn't have.
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: The last word. The gospel did. And the gospel still
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: does have the last word. And as we leave here,
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: and this is our last address in this conference on revival,
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: my prayer is, that God would raise up an army
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: of revival-minded believers. And as an army of revival-minded believers,
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: we take all these things that we've heard here, but
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: from my perspective, these two things that we've gotten from
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: last night and today. One is this commitment to preaching.
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: That is serious and courageous and evangelistic and faithful.
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: And the other is a willingness and a desire to
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: be the kind of people who will go anywhere, anytime
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: the Lord opens up a door of opportunity and will
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: show up with that same commitment of serious, courageous, evangelistic,
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: faithful preaching of the message of the cross to a lost, hurting,
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: and dying world. Believing all the while that God will
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: bless it, that he will cause it to bear fruit,
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: maybe even the fruit.
• 45:27
  Speaker 2: Of revival. God, we cry out to you.
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: From hearts that are hungry and thirsty for you, for
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: revival in our own lives, for revival in our own times.
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: Revive us, oh Lord, we pray. Amen. not for our
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: own sake, but for the sake of the kingdom, for
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, that he might
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: indeed have the fullness of the reward for which he died.
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: Move in our midst. Move for your glory. pour out
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: your spirit upon us and bring revival to our land.
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: This is our prayer and the earnest desire of our hearts.
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: And we do ask it humbly in Christ's name and
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: for his sake.
• 46:58
  Speaker 2: Amen.